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Thursday, August 30, 1900 

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Newburyport, Massachusetts 








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OLD CHASE HOUSES IN WEST NEWBURY. 
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First Reunion 



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The Chase-Chace Family 

Association 



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THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1900 



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Newburyport, Mass. 



IIIK CHASE PRESS 
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BY-LAWS OF THE ASSOCIATION. 



Article I. Name. This organization shall be called The Chase- 
Chace Family Association. 

Article II. Object. The object of the Association is to stimu- 
late interest in the family history and aid in its compilation and publi- 
cation, and to promote social intercourse among the members. 

Article III. Officers. The officers of the Association shall be a 
President, three or more Vice Presidents, Secretary-Treasurer, one or 
more Historians and an Executive Committee of three or more, of 
which the President and Secretary shall be members, ex-officio. The 
officers shall be elected at the regular meetings of the Association and 
shall severally perform the duties incident to the positions which they 
hold. 

Article IV. Membership and Fee. Any person interested in 
the objects of the Association may become a member by the payment 
of the sum of two dollars to the Treasurer, who will issue a member- 
ship receipt for the same. 

Article V. Meetings. Meetings shall be held annually, if practi- 
cable, at such time and place as the Executive Committee may select. 

Article VI. Amendments. These By-Laws may be amended by 

a majority vote at any meeting of the Association. 






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THE CHASE -CHACE FAMILY 
ASSOCIATION. 



Incorporated at Hartford, Conn ., July 6th, J 899. 




President. 

JOHN C. CHASE, Derry, N. H. 

Vice=Presidents. 

Charles E. Chase, Worcester, Mass. 



Edward O. Chase, 
( Ieorge W. Chase, 
Caleb Chase, 
William M. Chase, 



Chicago, III. 

Pawling, N. Y. 

Boston, Mass. 

Concord, N. H. 



Historians. 

Mrs. M. L. C. Smith, Hartford, Conn. 

Of the Aquila line. 
Rev. William A. Eardelev, 

466 State Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Of the other lines. 



Secretary -Treasurer. 

OMAR P. CHASE, Andover, Mass. 

Executive Committee. 

George L. Chase, Hartford, Conn. 

Russell S. Taft, Burlington, Vt. 

Joseph E. Chase, Holyoke, Mass. 

Mrs. Isabella S. Lounsberry, 

Hartford, Conn. 
George F. CHACE, Taunton, Mass. 

Josiah G. Chwse, Cambridge, Mass. 

Mrs. Caroline Atkinson, Springfield, Mass. 



The Chase-Chace Family Association was organized at Hartford, 
Conn., July (>, 1899, its object being to incite interest and aid in com- 
piling and publishing a genealogical history of the family. 

Will you not assist in this undertaking by becoming a member of 
the Association, and furnishing such data relating to the family as may 
be in your possession ? 

It is hoped that a prompt and gratifying response may be made to 
this appeal, in order that the long delayed work of publishing the 
history of a noted family may be prosecuted to an early and successful 
conclusion. 



4 THE CHASE-CHACE IAM1I.Y ASSOCIATION. 

It is also earnestly desired that any who do not feel like rendering 
financial aid, by becoming members of the Association, will not fail to 
send their own family records, that the work may be made as complete 
as possible. 

The membership fee has been fixed at two dollars ; no future 
annual payments being required. Membership fees should be sent to 
the Treasurer, who will return receipts therefor. Genealogical data 
may be sent to either of the Historians, if those sending have any 
doubt in regard to the line to which they may belong. 

Through the courtesy of the New England Historic Genealogical 
Association and George Bigelow Chase, Esq., of Boston, the Association 
has been permitted to copy a large collection made by the latter, and 
has also obtained possession of the collections made by the late Dr. 
John B. Chace of Taunton, Mass., and the late Benjamin Chase of 
Auburn, N. H. 

Those who become members of the Association will be furnished 
with their family lines, if desired, without charge, if they appear in the 
records which have been or may be collected. 

The next meeting of the Association will be held August 30, 1900, 
at ten o'clock a. m., in the Unitarian Church, Newburyport, Mass. A 
cordial invitation to attend is extended to all members of the family and 
its collateral branches ; also to any who are interested in the work of 
the Association. Those intending to be present are requested to give 
timely notice to the Secretary. 

JOHN C. CHASE, 

President. 

Omar P. Chase, 

Secretary. 



FIRST REUNION. 



The Chase -Chace Family Association, 

NEWBURYPORT, MASS., AUGUST 30, 1900. 



The first reunion of the Chase-Chace Family Association was held 
in the historic Meeting House of the First Religious Sociaty in New- 
buryport, Mass., Thursday, August 30, 1900. 

In the preceding month, over seven thousand circulars were sent 
out announcing the organization of the Association and its objects, the 
names of those to whom the circulars were sent being obtained from 
city directories, and from the records in the possession of the Historians 
of the Association. A copy of the circular appears on the preceding 
pages as a matter of record and for the information of those who did 
not happen to receive it. 

While it could hardly be expected that more than a small portion 
of those notified could be present, the response by letter and in person 
was very gratifying, nearly one hundred and fifty being in attendance, 
although but few more than one-half of the number registered as 
belonging to the family. 

The day of the meeting was exceptionally fine, and it was assumed 
that Providence as well as nature was smiling upon die venture of 
launching another family association. 

Although the hour of meeting was set for ten o'clock, many came 
an hour earlier and pleasantly passed the time in making and renewing 
acquaintances, sociability without formality being the order of the day. 

Shortly after the hour set for beginning the exercises, the President 
called to order, and the audience joined in singing the opening hymn 



6 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

to the grand old tune of Hamburg, played by Miss Alice Louise Chase 
of Medina, N. Y., the organist of the day. The hymn was a selection 
contributed by Mr. Charles Estes of Warren, R. I., who was unable to 
be present, and was sent in response to a request for a poem. 



OPENINC HYMN. 

Two hundred years ! Two hundred years ! 

How much of human power and pride, 
What glorious hopes, what gloomy fears, 

Have sunk beneath their noiseless tide ! 

'Tis like a dream when one awakes — 
This vision of the scenes of old 

'Tis like the noon when morning breaks 
'Tis like a tale round watch-fires told. 

Cod of our fathers, in whose sight 
The thousand years that sweep away 

Man, and the traces of his might 
Are but the break and close of day. 

Grant us that love of truth sublime, 
That love of goodness and of Thee, 

Which makes thy children, in all time 
To share thine own eternity. 



Rev. Horace C. Hovey, D. D., pastor of the Old South Church. 
Newburyport, then offered the following prayer : 

All wise and eternal Cod, who art from everlasting to everlasting, 
we come into Thy presence believing in Thee and trusting in Thee as 
our fathers' and as our God. One generation passeth away and another 
generation cometh, but the Lord abideth forever. 

We pray that Thou wilt bless the family reunions that are being 
held at this delightful season of the year in many parts of our country, 
and as the children meet to rehearse the deeds of the fathers and 
mothers and to recount their struggles and triumphs, may their own 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 7 

patriotism be rekindled with new zeal. May their love for God and 
home and native land be stronger, purer and better than before. 

Wilt thou bless all the different branches of this great family bear- 
ing the name of Chase, and those who are represented here to-day, 
either personally or by correspondence, and may all that is said and 
done here to-day be to Thine honor and glory, while it is to the ad- 
vantage, welfare and prosperity of Thy people. 

Closing with the Lord's Prayer. 



The President stated that up to a late hour on the preceding 
day, when the copy for the programme had to be sent to the printer, it 
was not positively known that any of the lineage would be present to 
officiate in a clerical capacity. In this extremity an appeal was made 
to Rev. Dr. Hovey, and, although due at a Sunday School picnic of his 
church, he had kindly consented to come to our relief. An invitation 
to address the meeting was graciously responded to as follows : 



ADDRESS BY REV. DR. HOVEY. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Chase Family : 

It gives me very great pleasure to be invited by your President 
to take part in any way in a family reunion of this nature, particularly 
as some of your number are very well known to me personally and 
others are known to me by reputation, and more especially as your 
worthy President is of the Hovey line of ancestry, and although he 
has come into the list of the Hoveys at the eleventh hour, his name 
being the last to be entered, he shows a good spirit, and it is most 
pleasant to me as President of the Daniel Hovey Association to know 
that the President of the Chase-Chace Association has his heart in the 
right place. 

We have just had our Hovey reunion in Ipswich, on August 21. 
We had eighty sit down at the table at the Agawam House, but we 
labor under some advantages and disadvantages. We have not the 
thought of such a legacy hanging over our heads. Our ancestor was a 
worthy man; we have the old Coat oi Arm-, and have proved it au ij 



8 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

back to the old Daniel Hovey who came in 1637, or perhaps a little 
earlier. We find considerable satisfaction in that Coat of Arms, but 
what is that side of such a legacy of millions as will come to you when 
you get your rights? In that respect we labor at a great advantage or 
disadvantage. We do not have to bother ourselves with the fear of 
being taxed, nor the fear of a wrong distribution of the estate. We 
came together just because we were Hoveys, and we looked into each 
other's faces and we were as brothers. Some of us were quite sur- 
prised to find how good looking the Hoveys are. A great many of 
the Hoveys remarked upon it. I do not know whether they had been 
told a great many times how plain they were, but they were really sur- 
prised to find how good looking they were, and they talked about it. 
And certainly, if it were not for seeming to be flattering and too 
complimentary right to your faces, I might tell you the same thing. 
When you get one of these New England families together you 
get the cream, the best that there is in all America, and there is no 
one here who will deny that. There is one fact which has been im- 
pressed very especially upon my mind with regard to these family 
reunions, and the patriotic societies that have been formed — The 
Daughters of the Revolution, The Daughters of the American Revo- 
lution, The Sons of the Revolution and The Sons of the American 
Revolution, — and that is this: If you went to the annals of families, 
the names that are being taken in the census that is now approaching 
its completion, you would find that probably two-thirds of the people, 
at a moderate estimate, two-thirds of the people who inhabit the cities 
have no ancestry to speak of, they are not descended from the old 
families of New England. Many of them are among the worthiest 
citizens that we have, but they cannot claim this grand ancestry that 
the old families have as a spur to their patriotism, and it is our duty to 
tell them all about the deeds of our ancestors. That is the argument ; 
mere family pride is not the highest motive. We are not responsible 
for belonging to one family or another. There is no particular reason 
why one person is to have one name rather than another, but when 
you know your ancestral history, and what has been done in war and 
peace, in commerce, in literature, and the fine arts, in religion and 
in the education of the whole country, then we have something thai 
causes a lot of responsibility to rest upon us concerning the welfare oi 
our great, glorious and growing republic, to tell our fellow citizens of 
the achievements of the past and to help each other, that there may 
be even greater achievements. 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. *■) 

Now, Mr. President, you all know these things. I have simply 
reminded you of them. I thank you for the great favor that you have 
conferred upon me and I express my sincere regret in not being able 
to remain. You have my best wishes, my highest respect and my most 
sincere regard in all the plans which may be formed for your future 
and especially for this reunion. May God bless you all. 



Dr. Hovey's address received close attention and was heartily 
applauded. A motion was unanimously adopted thanking him for his 
courtesy in attending the meeting, and contributing to the enjoyment 
of those present. 

A finely rendered soprano solo by a sweet singer of Chase descent 
as well as present name, Mrs. Katherine Knight Chase of Haverhill, 
was followed by the president's address. 



ADDRESS BY THE PRESIDENT. 

JOHN C. CHASE, Derry, N. H. 



Kinsmen and Friends: 

It affords me great pleasure to welcome such a goodly number, 
to this, the first reunion of the Chase-Chace Family Association. 
Organized but little over a year ago, the first meeting was practically 
for business only, but to-day we assemble with a different object, and 
it is to be hoped that this reunion will be the first of a series, that shall 
continue as long as any of the name and blood can be found to keep 
the organization alive. Each generation will have its own record to 
perpetuate, and I can conceive of few obligations paramount to that of 
transmitting to posterity a record of the achievements of their ancestors. 
Says Edmund Burke, "People who will not look forward to their pos 
terity, who never look backward to their ancestors," ami it was with the 
object of furthering genealogical research, preserving family records 
and strengthening the ties of kinship, that this Association was formed. 

It is particularly appropriate that the initial reunion of this As 
sociation should be held in this city, rich in historic traditions and 



10 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

hallowed memories, fur it was here the progenitor of a numerous and 
important branch of our family took up his abode, a half a dozen years 
after the first settlement was made on the banks of the River Parker. 

Other gatherings of the family have been held in former years, the 
earliest of which we have any record being held in this city in 1847. 
The main incentive of those gatherings was the pursuit of that will-o'- 
the-wisp, known as the "Chase Fortune." "Hope springs eternal in 
the human breast," and recent correspondence discovers the existence 
of many who still have faith in the mythical fortune awaiting pre- 
sumptive American heirs of the English line. If any here present are 
indulging in such belief, let me assure them that an investment in a 
gold brick is, if anything, of more prospective value than one to prose- 
cute this chimerical claim. 

If the "blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church," then no 
less did those who caused these meetings to be held, render service 
of incalculable value to coming generations, as they stimulated genea- 
logical research, and caused the collection and preservation of historical 
data, that otherwise, in all probability, would have been lost. So we 
may well say, all honor to those who, for whatever motive, initiated the 
movement to collect and preserve the family history. 

Strenuous efforts were put forth to secure an address from some 
noted member of the family, but, possibly on account of our policy of 
"benevolent assimilation," we have been unable to secure anyone, 
consequently the set literary programme will be comparatively brief. 
Personally I do not regard this as an unmixed evil, for I believe that 
in a gathering of this kind the time allotted to social intercourse should 
predominate ; that a large proportion of those who attend, would 
prefer to spend their time in making and renewing acquaintances, re- 
hearsing family traditions, and prosing their genealogy, to listening to 
the average oratorical effort. He that as it may, you have the best we 
have been able to provide. We are certain that the experience gained 
will be of great value in arranging lor future reunions, which, we are 
confident, will show a largely increased attendance, and a growing 
interest in the Association and its object. 

Notwithstanding the youth of the Association, it has already been 
called to mourn the decease of one of its members, Henry Martin Chase 
oi Barnstable, Mass. Although a native oi Philadelphia, some of his 
early years were spent in Newburyport, and his remains rest in the 
beautiful Oak Hill Cemetery not far distant from his former home. 
IK was greatly interested in the aims and work of the Association, and 



FIRST REUNION, NEWRURYPORT, MASS. I I 

would have been an exceedingly useful and valuable member. Our 
proceedings will contain a more appropriate biographical notice than 1 
can give at this time. 

It has been suggested that I might occupy a portion of the time 
that happens to be available, with a brief account of our ancestors who 
first settled in this country. There is a popular but incorrect idea 
extant, that all bearing the name of Chase in this country are the 
descendants of three brothers, who settled in New Hampshire and 
Massachusetts in the early part of the seventeenth century. There are 
however, a number who trace their descent from an immigrant who 
settled in Maryland and was the ancestor of Judge Samuel Chase who 
signed the Declaration of Independence. Others are descended from 
a John Chase who came from the Barbadoes and settled in Providence, 
R. I., in 1730. 

From a reply to one of the circulars sent out, we learn of one 
bearing the name who came to this country from Canada, but was born 
in Ireland. Their traditions make the family of Hugenot origin. 
They sought refuge in England at the massacre of St. Bartholomew, 
and for services rendered in Cromwell's army, were given grants of 
land in England and the south of Ireland. 

We also have a colored brother of the name, the editor of an 
Afro-American paper published at the national capital. It is hardly 
probable that there is an Ethiopian line of the family, and in this case 
it is more than likely that the name was adopted rather than inherited. 
Whatever our personal feelings may be in regard to the matter, we can 
hardly criticise the compliment paid us in the selection of the surname. 
However, it is certain that nearly all of those bearing the name 
are the descendants of three immigrants who settled in Massachusetts. 
William Chace was the first in the field, coming in Gov. Winthrop's 
fleet, in 1630. His name is found in the records of the first church in 
Roxbury, in the handwriting of the Rev. John Elliott, the apostle to 
the Indians. He removed to Yarmouth in L637, and those of the 
name in southeastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island arc g< nerally of 
this line. They may be identified to a large extent l>v the spelling of 
the name Chare, but it can by no means be assumed that those spelling 
it Cha.ve are not of this line. Nothing is known of his history before 
his arrival here, and if any relationship exists between him and the 
other two immigrants, it is purely conjectural and apparently not sus 
ceptible of proof. 

Aquila and Thomas had grants of land in Hampton, N. 11.. in 



1-' THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY Association. 

1640; and it is assumed that they may have arrived the preceding 
year. That they were brothers, is shown by a deed on record, in 
which Aquila conveys a certain tract of land to his brother Thomas. 
It is supposed that Thomas lived where the Quaker meeting house 
now stands in the town of Seabrook. As his oldest son, Thomas, was a 
bachelor, it is probable that he remained on the homestead. " For the 
love and good will that I have and do bear unto ye people of God, 
called Quakers," he deeded on June 1, 1689 to John Hussey, in their 
behalf, about sixty acres of land, "for a burying place and to build a 
meeting house on." (Essex Records, 10-88.) When the estate was 
divided after his death in 1714, the tract by which the above merito- 
rious gift is bounded, is described as his homestead. 

Thomas, the original grantee, married Elizabeth, the daughter of 
Thomas Philbrick, and died in 1652, leaving five sons. Joseph, the 
second son was taken prisoner at Dover, N. H., in the assault upon 
Major Waldron's house in 1689. Dying in 1718, his will provided 
that certain beds, furniture, silver tankard and Turkey worked chairs, 
should not be divided, but that whichever daughter should occupy the 
house, should take care to entertain strangers, more particularly called 
Quakers. It is recorded that the youngest son, Abraham, born the 
year his father died, "was slain in the warres," in 1676. 

The birthplace of Thomas and Aquila is unknown and the year 
of birth of the latter is only known on the authority of Joshua Coffin, 
the historian of Newbury, who has stated that he has seen a deposition 
in which Aquila gives his age. 

It has been assumed that they were the sons of Aquila, the son 
of Richard Chase and Joan Bishop, of Chesham, England, but it is 
exceedingly doubtful if satisfactory proof of the fact can ever be ad- 
duced. The above mentioned Aquila was baptized August 14, L580, 
but the parish records contain no other mention of him or his younger 
brothers, Thomas and Mordecai. The marriage or death, and in some 
cases both, of the seven other children of Richard and Joan are re- 
corded, which is strong evidence that the three sons referred to lived 
and died elsewhere. 

The Hampton, N. H., records show that in l(>40 there was 
granted to Aquila Chase six acres for a house lot. In 1644, an additional 
grant was recorded of six acres "of upland, meadow and swamp." 

The Newbury, Mass., records contain the following: "Granted 
to Aquila Chase, Anno L646, tower acres of land at the new towne for 
a house lott and six acres of upland for a planting lott, where it can 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 13 

be had, and six acres of marsh where it can be had, also on condition 
that he do goe to sea and do service in the towne with a boate for four 
years." 

It is probable that he removed to Newbury the same year, as the 
county records state, that in September, 1646, Aquila Chase and wife, 
and David Wheeler, of Hampton, her brother, were prosecuted for 
picking peas on the Sabbath day. As the patriarch was allowed to 
change his name from Abram to Abraham in witness of the covenant, 
that he should be the father of many nations, so it is perhaps possible 
that the punishment for this transgression of our progenitor was giving 
his name the current pronunciation of ^-quila instead of the scriptural 
yfy-uila. 

Tradition throws little light upon the question of Aquila Chase's 
residence. The "Newtowne" where his house lot was located is what 
is now known as Newburyport, the original settlement in Newbury 
having been made on Parker River. It is probable that the "fower 
acres of land at the new towne for a house lott" was at the corner of 
Chandler's Lane, now Federal Street, and the old highway, now Water 
Street, for he conveyed this lot to Robert Rogers in 1659, eleven years 
before his death.* The records of deeds and probate indicate with 
reasonable certainty that he also lived on the north side of what is now 
known as North Atkinson Street, about five hundred feet from its inter- 
section with Low Street. 

In 1668 Daniel Merrill bought of John Godfrey eighteen acres with 
the "housing" near the Great Pine Swamp, which tract was bounded 
on one side and end by land belonging to Aquila Chase. The Great 
Pine Swamp lies a few rods west of Low Street, and is a positive and 
permanent identification of location. Daniel Merrill's will, dated 17 17, 
gives his homestead in Newbury to his oldest son, Daniel, who married 
Esther Chase, daughter of Aquila, Jr. Daniel, Jr., died about 1725, 
and the division of the estate is recorded in the probate records. His 
son Peter had half of the house and probably bought the other halt. 
and lived there. His will was proved in L778, and gave to his son 
Jacob all of his real estate. The house stood at the intersection of 
North Atkinson and Low Streets, and was known until its demolition 
as the Jacob Merrill house. 

The will of Aquila Chase, dated December 19, L670, may be 
seen at the probate office in Salem. The homestead was given to his 
oldest son, Aquila, who made a will, now in the possession oi one of 

* Currier's " Ould Newbury," pagi 149 
/ 



14 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

his descendants, but died before signing it, and the estate was divided 
by the heirs in 1723. Daniel Merrill and wife Esther had ten acres of 
the northwest end, which was bounded by their homestead, and Joseph, 
the only surviving son, who had settled in what is now West Newbury, 
had the other seven acres and buildings. He sold his share to Daniel 
Merrill, and the deed describes it as "bounding on Sawyer's Lane." 
Enoch P. Chase, who was born in J7<S ( ), and lived on North Atkinson 
Street, says the Sawyers lived where he did, and gave it the name of 
S.iwyer's Lane, and that there were two Merrill houses. The Daniel 
Merrill cellar was open until within a few years, and the hollow place 
marking the cellar of the house, where it is confidently believed Aquila 
Chase lived and died, can be identified. The place of his burial is 
unknown, but tradition says that it is in the old cemetery on the Plains. 

Thomas, the second son of Aquila, married Rebecca, daughter 
of Thomas P'ollansbee, and settled near Amesbury Ferry, about thirty 
rods north of the road leading from the Ferry road to the Artichoke 
River, which also leads by the old cemetery to the Bradford road. 
The deed for his first purchase of fourteen acres is dated June 2, 
1677. The estate remained in the family until 1798, and the house 
stood until 1875. His son, Thomas, born September 15, 1680, settled 
in what is now West Newbury previous to 1700, and the estate still 
remains in the family. It is now held by Miss Lois Jane and Thomas 
Chase Thurlow, whose mother, Susan Chase, of the seventh generation 
from Aquila, married Ceorge Thurlow. 

Aquila, fourth son of Thomas,- born July 15, 1688, lived in Ipswich, 
and died in 1714. Among the items in the expense account of his 
funeral, we find one of £1 : 16s. for eight gallons of wine. 

John, the third son of Aquila, bought on December 24, 1698, a 
lot of land "in the upper woods," now West Newbury, giving in ex- 
change a tract of tide meadow in Salisbury. His house was at the 
"Training Field," and was the second east of the present town house. 
His will was dated October 22, 1750, and proved May 19, 1739. He 
gave to his grandson, "John Chase, of Hampton, the son of my son 
John," twenty shillings. "It is all which I should have given to my 
-aid son John had he been living." This phraseology of the will settles 
i" yond question the identity of the John Chase, grandson of Aquila, 
who married Abigail Oreen, granddaughter of Thomas of Hampton, as 
ili> re has been sonic confusion in regard to the matter. The home- 
id was given to his son I >avid. 

Daniel, Aquila's fourth son, acquired by purchase from his brother 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 15 

Aquila, the lot on the west of that owned by his brother John, being 
the one just east of the West Newbury town house. He died in 1707 
and the place soon passed out of the name of Chase, although it re 
mained in the collateral line of Carr for over a hundred years. 

Moses, the youngest son and eleventh child of Aquila, was born 
December 24, 1663. He married Ann Follansbee, who died April IS, 
1708, at the birth of her youngest son, Benoni. She was buried in the 
old cemetery at the Plains, and her tombstone has the oldest date of 
any belonging to the family so far as I am aware. 

He died September 6, 1743, and was buried in the old Ferry 
Lane (now Bridge Street) Cemetery in West Newbury, where may be 
seen, in addition to his own, the headstones of three others bearing tin 
name of Moses of successive generations. 

The elder Moses was styled weaver and ensign and the latter title 
appears on his tombstone. He and his wife were admitted to member 
ship in the Second Church in 1713, and he signed the covenant and 
helped form the Fourth Church in 1731. September 20, 1700, it 
was "granted to Moses Chase to set in the fore seat by the pulpit." 
His eldest son, Daniel, settled in Sutton and was the ancestor of Chief 
Justice Salmon P. Chase. 

In 1689 he purchased a lot of land in the "upper woods," as that 
part of the town lying west of the Artichoke River was then called, 
being the first of the name to settle in that locality. He afterward 
made other purchases so that his farm contained one hundred acres, 
having a frontage of one hundred and six rods on the Bradford road 
and extending back to the Merrimack River. The house he built 
stood about twenty-five rods back of one now standing, which was 
built by his son Joseph in 1755.* 

The Essex records contain numerous deeds of land which he 
bought and sold, and he also acquired large tracts in Sutton and 
Rowley, Mass., and Nottingham, N. H., which were willed to his sons. 
The homestead was divided between his sons, Moses and Joseph, the 
first named having the east half, on which his son, Moses, 4 had built 
a house in 173b.* This house is still standing, and is occupied by 
the family of Samuel Carr, a descendant of the original settler of two 
hundred and eleven years ago. The house built by foseph on his 
part, in 1755, is still standing and has been kept in such a state of 
repair that it little conveys an idea of its age. 

The house built by Ensign Moses' fourth son, Samuel, is supposed 

* Sec Frontispiece. X... I, Moses; No. _', Joseph. 



16 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

to be the oldest Chase house in existence. It is of brick and stands 
on the west side of the Bradford road about a mile above the spot 
where Ensign Moses settled. According to tradition, it was erected 
previous to 172 ( ), and the bricks were made on adjoining land and 
(arried to the site by Samuel's wife in her apron. The house has 
remained in the family until the present time and is now occupied by 
John Tyler Bailey, a direct descendant of the original owner.* 

I have thus endeavored to give you a brief account of some who 
helped make our early family history, and much could be added did 
time permit. A large portion of what I have given has been compiled 
from the material gathered by my grandfather, the late Benjamin Chase 
of Auburn, N. II., to whose patient research and unflagging industry 
we are, without doubt, indebted for the preservation of much valuable 
data that otherwise would have been lost. 



A musical number came next on the programme, and Miss Alice 
Louise Chase entertained the audience with an enjoyable organ solo, 
Guilmant's "Elevation" in A flat. 



The poet of the occasion was a son of the late Dr. John B. Chace 
of Taunton, Mass., who for many years gave liberally of his time and 
means towards the collection of material for a genealogical history ol 
the family. The task was longer than his life but the results of his 
labor are in the hands of the Historians of the Association, and it is 
hoped that before long they may be seen in print. 



Mr. Chace prefaced the reading of his poem by the statement that 
the invitation to contribute had been accepted with the understanding 
that he might make use of one that had been read upon another 
occasion, should the demands upon his time be such as to prevent the 
writing of one especially for this gathering. I lis apprehension of being 
obliged to give US a second hand production had been realized, but it 
was new to all of his hearers without doubt, and was thoroughly enjoyed 
by those who had the pleasure of listening to its reading. 

' ^<jc Frontispiei e. No. .<, Samuel. 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, VIASS. 17 



THE ROSE. 



By GEORGE F. CHACE, Taunton, Mass. 

In Afric wilds there grows the grapple plant ; 

With flowers, whose beauteous hues the senses haunt. 

Along the ground its branches trail, a mass 

Of lovely bloom, enchanting all who pass. 

Upon the trees and shrubs as well, this vine 

Lifts high its purple mantle, rich and fine. 

Approach and gather garlands, full and free. 

Twere shame to leave them here, so fair to see, 

To droop and die, unsought, a withered heap. 

But soft ; a while restrain your rapture deep. 

Beneath those petals, sharp and barbed thorns 

Malignant hide ; so says a voice which warns 

Unwary travellers to keep away. 

Such was the story that I read one day. 

In sombre mood, long mused I o'er this tale. 

It seemed to picture, how in life we fail, 

The path of wrong e'er charms the sense of man. 

He seeks alluring pleasures where he can. 

But does he think, in time, to count the cost? 

How sure, in coils of vice forever lost, 

Is he who once shall step aside from right, 

To follow sensuous ways, in downward flight? 

With pain and sadness thought I much on this. 

Is beauty false, and ne'r allied with bliss? 

Is true that phrase, •' no rose but has its thorn"? 

Is virtue of all charm and graces shorn? 

1 love the rose. Is all its fragrant breath 

Alone designed its friend, to lead to death? 

\\> lovely tints, a snare, to make one feel 

The prick of vicious thorns which they conceal? 



18 I UK CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

While musing thus, with thoughts that made me weep, 

Upon the lounge one day I fell asleep. 

In my brain cells, shadowy dreams began to play. 

Methought, 1 walked a long and dreary way. 

At last, when faint and worn, beside a gate 

I stood, not knowing what might be my fate, 

If entrance sought 1 there, for food and rest, 

At the door of Paradise, where dwell the blest. 

But lo, the gate upon its hinges turns, 
And then a wondrous sight upon my vision burns. 
A form, divine or human, I could not tell, 
Stands in that gateway there, with eyes that well 
With love, and face that shines with heavenly smile. 
Entranced, I gazed, nor dared to move the while. 

"Come in, my brother," said a woman's tone, 
With tenderness to melt a heart of stone. 

"Nay, nay," I faltered, "Messenger of God, 
Give not to me of love the slightest nod. 
Unworthy I to hear thy welcome voice, 
To see the angels, and with them rejoice. 
I'm stained with sin, ashamed to raise my lids, 
To look, where virtue, truth or honor bids." 

But still the angel took my hand and said : 
"Your faults are known. By sympathy misled, 
You've strayed away from duty's path, 'tis true; 
Yet, brother dear, there's peace in store for you. 
The queen of Heaven doth bid you come within, 
Because you wear a charm, to pardon sin." 

I ken not what she means, but trembling go 

With anxious eagerness to see and know, 

I low Mich as I can heavenly favor find. 

The touch of the angel's fingers, as they wind 

About my own, thrills through my doubting soul. 

I've reached at last, it seems, the heavenly goal. 

"Behold," she >ays, "the queen of Heaven now." 
Amazed, I look, and see a beauteous brow 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 19 

Of purest white, and cheeks of carmine hue, 

And lips that melt as if kissed by morning dew; 

A fragrant breath, a figure and a pose, 

The tout ensemble of a matchless rose, 

No thorns I see, but drapery of white, 

And tints of blushing pink, with pure delight. 

Ah, thorns are guardian angels in disguise, 

Protecting beauty, when ruffian hands arise, 

To mar its glory, and rob of all its worth. 

"bis this they mean, methinks, when found on earth. 

" What talisman gives me this vision sweet, 

And will it from before me never fleet?" 

I asked my guide. She smiling made reply : 
"You wear a flower, the fairest 'neath the sky. 

No soul can wholly fallen be in wrong, 

Whose love for God's own flowers is pure and strong." 

And now my eyes to me the truth disclose, 

For there upon my coat I wore a rose. 

Anon from sleep I woke, with tear dimmed eyes, 
To find upon my cheek a rose leaf lies. 



Miss Emily A. Getchell, the Historian of the Pillsbury Family and 
Secretary of the Historical Society of Old Newbury, presented the 
following communication, which was read and the Secretary instructed 
to acknowledge, with the thanks and fraternal greetings of this Associ- 
ation, in time for their annual reunion, which will be held in this city 
the coming week : 

Newburyport, August 30, 1900. 
The Pillsbury Family Association extends greetings to the Chase 
Family Association and felicitates it on its meeting to-day in the old 
town of which the common ancestor of the family, Aquila Chase, was a 
land holder and resident. 

May the present gathering be a success in every respect and the 
forerunner of others to come. 
For the Pillsbury family, 

Albert 1']. Pillsbury, Boston, President. 
Emily A. Getchell, Newburyport, Secretary. 



20 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

Rev. Rufus Emery, the Historian of the Emery Family and Secre- 
tary of its Association, tendered its greetings, which were accepted 
with thanks. 



Numerous letters were received in response to the circulars and 
those read are herewith appended. 



A private letter was also read from Miss Anna A. Gould, of Chase 
lineage, who was a missionary in China. The letter was dated May 20, 
1900, and told of the dangers she was undergoing from the Boxers, by 
whom she was afterwards inhumanly murdered. 



From Rev. Samuel C. Beane, D. D., Newburyport, Mass., Pastor of the 

Church in which the Gathering was Held. 



Mr. John C. Chase, 

Derry, N. H. 

Faikvikw, N. H. August 23, 1900. 

Mv Dear Sir: Your welcome letter, forwarded, found me here 
at the White Mountains. I am sorry, but our plans do not land us 
hack at Newburyport till the day after your Chase gathering. I should 
gladly have been one of you, even though 1 am not conscious of Chase 
blood, wishing all the while that I had some of that fluid in my veins. 
Were I to be there, I should want to give you greeting to our old and 
beautiful First Church of Newburyport, the delight of its worshipers, 
and an almost ideal structure in the eyes of architects, both American 
and European. The first minister was John Lowell, the ancestor of 
the founder of the great city of Lowell, of the successive John Lowells 
who were famous judges, and of our great poet and ambassador, James 
Russell Lowell. Among the worshipers in the edifice which preceded 
this was John Quincy Adams, and Theophilus Parsons worshiped in 
both. Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson was one of the late 
ministers. Let the present pastor welcome you thus by letter. 

I shall always be glad to see you at my house. 

Always yours, 

Samuel C. Beane. 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 21 

From Hon. William M. ('mask, Judge Supreme Court 
of New Hampshire. 



Canaan Street, N. H., August 18, 1900. 
Mr. John C. Chase, 

Derry, N. H. 

My Dear Mr. Chase : I am sorry to say that I cannot accept 
your kind invitation to address the Chase-Chace Family Association at 
its approaching meeting. Mrs. Chase and I are to start for Seattle, 
Wash., about that time — if not before — shall start as soon as I can get 
my affairs into shape, so I can leave. 

I assure you it would afford me much pleasure to be present at the 
meeting, and I should esteem it a great honor to address the "family," 
than which I believe there is no better in the world. 

Yours very truly, 

William M. Chase. 



From Alden Chase. 



Bryant Pond, Me., August 27, 1900. 
Mr. John C. Chase. 

My Dear Sir : I sometime since received a circular relative to 
the Chase Association, and will give in answer to it a brief account of 
my family. I am a descendant of Aquila Chase, who came to Hamp- 
ton in 1639, and my line is through Thomas, Nathan, Edmund, and 

Merrill. I am the youngest of ten children and was born June 5, 1819. 

* * * * * ***** 

Now I have given a condensed sketch of my family, and if you 
should desire a brief notice of any of my father's other children I 
could help you to it. Myself and my sister Lydia, who is in her 
ninetieth year, are all that are left of the ten children. 

I should be glad to be at your meeting on the thirtieth instant, but 
age precludes it. 

Should you ever obtain the Chase property from England, please 
give my portion of the ninety millions of pounds sterling (?) to my 
legal heirs, as I do not expect to live to obtain it myself ! ! ! 

I am yours respectfully, 

Alden Chase. 



22 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

From Geo. C. Chase, President Bates College, Lewiston, Me. 



Andover, Me., August 7, 1 ( J(H). 
Mr. John C. Chase, 

Derry, N. H., 

President of The Chase-Chace P'amily Association. 

Dear Sir : Your courteous note of August 2, inviting me to ad- 
dress a meeting to be held August 30, is at hand. It would give me 
pleasure to meet those of my own name and blood and to extend my 
knowledge of the Chase Family in America. Unfortunately, important 
engagements will require my presence elsewhere. I shall take pleasure 
in sending my membership fee to the Secretary-Treasurer, and shall 
hope to meet you at some future meeting of the Association. 

On the opposite page I give the names of some of my ancestors. 
My life has thus far been too busy to permit me to give much attention 
to the genealogy of the Chase Family. I shall highly prize any data 
that may be sent me. As I am away from home at this writing, I have 
only my memory from which to draw, and, therefore, will not attempt 
much. Yours sincerely, 

George C. Chase. 



From P. I. Cii ask, Attorney at Law. 



Bowling Green, Ohio, August 4, 1900. 

John C. Chase, 

Derry, N. H. 

Dear Sir: Your circular with reference to the compiling of a 
genealogical record of the Chase Family received; and in reply will 
say that my ancestors on the Chase side were born at Taunton, Mass. 
They lived there so long that "The memory of man runneth not to the 
contrary" and were an apple eating, cider drinking, cheese paring set. 
none of whom were exceptionally bright and none of whom were fools. 
However, some of them had the nerve to leave that land of stone walls, 
and codfish, come west, and have been heard from, outside of the 
mausoleum of a genealogical book. Very truly yours, 

P. [. Chase. 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 23 

From Hon. George ('. Hazelton', Late M. ('. from Wisconsin. 



Washington, D. C, August 14, 1 ( )(K). 
Mr. John C. Chase, 

Derry, N. H. 

Dear Mr. Chase : I am in receipt of two of the Chase Family 
circulars by your kindness, and the first one I forwarded to my brother, 
Gerry W. Hazelton of Milwaukee, Wis., now visiting in New England, 
and at Chester now spending a week among our kith and kin, and 
thence to Manchester. I should like very much to attend the meeting 
on the thirtieth instant, but fear that I shall not be able to get away 
from Washington at that time. 

My grandmother on my paternal side of the house was a Chase ; 
but died before my remembrance. 

I hope that the meeting will be both pleasant and profitable. 

Yours very respectfully, 

George C. Hazelton. 



From Mrs. W. II. S. Hascall. 



North Conway, August 29, 1900. 
To the Chase-Chace Family Association. 

Dear Friends : It would give me great pleasure to meet with 
you at Newburyport and learn something of the large family to which 
I belong. I presume my brother, Stephen F. Chace, of Providence, 
has given you the family record as far as our parents left it for us. 

Were I nearer I should certainly meet with you this year. I have 
left Dover and am now on my way to New York, where my husband, 
Rev. W. H. S. Hascall, has become pastor of the Carmel Church 
(Baptist) and my address hereafter will be 223 E. L23d Street, New 
York City. 

Shall be glad to meet with you next year, if possible. If 1 can 
give you any information, shall be glad to do so. 

Emma Ch \ci 1 1 vscall. 



24 the chase-chace family association. 

From Rev. Arthur Chase, Ware, Mass. 



Branford, Conn., August 25, 1900. 
Mr. John C. Chase, 

President of the Chase-Chace Association. 

My Dear Sir : Yours of August twenty-first was forwarded to me 
from Ware, and received to-day. 

I very much regret that I shall be unable to attend the meeting of 
the Association on the thirtieth. 

Thanking you for your courtesy, and with assurances of keen in 
terest in the investigations of the Association, I am 

Very sincerely yours, 

Arthur Chase. 



From Rev. J. K. Chase. 



East Hampstead, N. H., August 29, 1900. 
John C. Chase, Esq., 

President of The Chase-Chace Family Association. 

My Dear Sir : I am sorry I cannot attend your meeting in 
Newburyport. I had the pleasure some fifty years ago of being present 
at the great Chase meeting held in Newbury. A dear brother of mine, 
the late Rev. James N. Chase, was present and took an active part in 
the meeting. We were both descendants of Aquila Chase. 

May you have as enthusiastic a gathering as that was. 

Very truly, 

John K. Chase. 

From '1'. Elwood Ch \sk. 



Lockport, \. Y., August 7. 1900. 

Mr. Omar P. Chase, Secretary, 
Andover, Mass. 

M\ Dear Sir: being in direct line a Chase of the original type, 
and abo deeply interested in the work of the Chase Chace Association, 
allow me to ask you to tender to the officers and members my hearty 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, .MASS. 25 

cooperation in the furtherance of the Association. It has already been 
my pride to point to the records of their forefathers in the past as a 
stimulus to my children to encourage them to endeavor to leave behind 
them a record not only stainless, but a record of having advanced the 
cause of humanity. 

As the year 1901 will see the largest purely American and Ameri- 
canized gathering, viz., the Pan-American at Buffalo, permit me to ask 
the Association to adjourn at the close of this, the August, 1900, meet- 
ing, to meet in Buffalo in 190] at such time as your honorable body 
may deem best. 

During the Pan-American the rates of railroad fare will undoubtedly 
be within the reach of the humblest Chase or his descendants, thus 
affording an opportunity to very largely increase the membership of 
the Association, and also to bring together in one body at one time 
the largest number of relatives descended from one line the world ever 
saw. 

Should your Association consider favorably the proposition to 
meet in Buffalo, I will now offer my services in any capacity in which 
I can be of service. 

As you undoubtedly know, Buffalo is a large, prosperous city, with 
accommodations for almost unlimited gatherings, both indoor and out- 
door. It seems to me as though the time and place is so opportune 
that other propositions would willingly withdraw in favor of Buffalo. 

I can promise you in advance, that, should he be then living, our 
next President, William McKinley, will sit with your President and 
honor the illustrious name of Chase with his presence and counsel. 

Sincerely yours to command, 

T. Ellw< )oi» Cham:. 



From Constantine Chase, Cait. -\\h Artillery, U. S. A. 



Fort Trumbull, New London, Conn., 

August 5, I'M Mi. 
Mr. Omar P. Chase, 

Andover, Mass. 

Dear Sir: I have received your bulletin of The Chase Associ- 
ation and wish to be enrolled as a member. To this end 1 enclose 
.luck for two ($2.00) dollars. 



26 llll CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

I also enclose memorandum of my genealogical record. 1 have 
more of it of the female side and collaterals, but suppose you don't 
want it. I expect to get more from my father, also, who has made 
it quite a study. 

If you can fill in any of the blank dates in this memorandum I 
will lie glad to get them. 

Thomas Chase, my ancestor, came from England with his brother 
and settled in I [ampton, N. H. Lieut. Isaac Chase, a British, Colonial 
officer, settled in Martha's Vineyard and died there. I have seen his 
grave. The rest of my direct line, Chase, lived at Martha's Vineyard 
until my grandfather settled in Boston. I was born in Vineyard Haven, 
but was brought up in Boston until the Civil War, when I became a 
soldier. Yours very truly, 

( lONSTANTINE CHASE, 



From Philip Brown Chase 



Rosemont, Pf.nn., August 20, 1900. 
Omar P. Ciiasr. 

Respected Kinsman : Thy letter to son Frederic has been read 
to me. It gave me much pleasure, and it would give me much pleasure 
to meet so many kinsfolk on that beautiful hill at Andover on the 
thirtieth instant. The surroundings on my younger days are perfectly 
familiar to my mind's eye. It was a favorite ride to me from old 
Salem, to start on a tine morning, dine at a very pleasant house of 
entertainment directly opposite to what was then called the Institution 
and ride home in the later afternoon. I enjoyed the air ami whole 
environment, and with one of my cousins or an uncle went as often as 
we could. 

Please give my besl wishes to the whole assembly for the success 
of their meeting. Respectfully, 

Thy kinsman, 

P. B. Cu.\^ . 

I!m writer of the above letter, Philip Brown < lhase, is a native ol Salem, Mass., 
now residing in Philadelphia, Penn. lie was born June Id, L809, ami liis advanced 

would .niiil'- him i<> be called the Dean ol the Association. The letter was 
evidently written undei the impression that the reunion was to he held at Andover, 

M: 



first reunion, newburyport, mass. 27 

From Mrs. Elizabeth Chase Palmer. 



Kennebunkport, Me., August 28, 1900. 

Secretary Chase-Chace Association, 
Newburyport, Mass. 

My Dear Sir: I have neither your name or address, therefore 
take the liberty of sending my subscription in this general manner, 
trusting it will serve the purpose of identifying me with the Associ- 
ation, in which I am deeply interested. 

I should greatly enjoy being present on the thirtieth, but have 
found it impossible to accomplish it from this point in one day. 

My great grandfather, Deacon Amos Chase, left Newbury and 
settled in Saco, Maine, before 1760. The old homestead still stands. 
with the noble elms planted by him. My eldest son, Amos Chase 
Palmer, a representative of the fifth generation, was born there. 

I rejoice in this movement and regret that I cannot be present. 
I shall welcome any information on this subject. 

Very sincerely yours, 

Elizabeth Chase Palmer. 



From Samuel A. Chase, Treasurer Central Savings Bank. 



Lowell, Mass., August L6, L900. 

Mr. Omar P. Chase, 

Treasurer The Chase-Chace Family Association. 

My Dear Sir: In reply to your circular, I enclose two ($2.00) 
dollars for membership. 

I have before me, in a magazine article, an interesting history oi 
Bishop Chase of New Hampshire. 

I think I am the only one who has received a cash payment for 
shares in the many millions belonging to the Chase and Townley estate 
in England. With fraternal regards, 1 am 

Very truly yours, 

Samuel A. Chase. 



28 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

From Geo. I.. Chase, Pres. Hartford Fire [nsurance Co. 



Hartford, August 27, 1900. 
O. P. Chase, Esq., Secretary. 

Dear Sir: I will not be able to be with you on the thirtieth, 
which I much regret. 

Wishing success to those who arc doing so much for the Associa- 
tion, 1 am Yours truly, 

George L. Chase. 



From Wife of Gov. Allen of Porto Rico. 



57 Rolfe Street, Lowell, Mass., 

August 7, 1900. 

Mr. Omar P. Chase, 

Andover, Mass. 

Dear Sir: Enclosed find two ($2.00) dollars for membership in 
the Chase-Chace Family Association. I have also to record the birth 
of Allen Hobbs, born July 30, 1899, son of Alexander F. and Louise 
(Allen) Hobbs. 

I enclose my branch to see if you wish any of it. I am very sorry 
that I shall be unable to attend the meeting of August thirtieth. 

Respectfully yours, 

Mrs. Charles H. Allen. 



From Chiei [ustice Russell S. Taft, Supreme Court of Vermont. 



Montpelier, \'t., August 2.S, 1900. 

Mr. O. P. Chase, 

Andover, Mass. 

Dear Sir: It will be impossible for me to attend the Chase 
meeting on the thirtieth instant. I regret it exceedingly, but am en- 
gaged in court, although the mercury is about ninety in the shade. 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 29 

I am heartily in favor of the object of the Association, but I am 
so engaged that I cannot devote the time to render much aid. You 
ought to choose some one to act as executive committee in my place. 

Extend my hearty greetings to my distant cousins of the Chase 
blood. I am faithfully yours, 

Russell S. Taft. 



From Agnes Blake Toor, Brookline, Mass. 



Andover, Me., August 24, 1900. 
Mr. Omar P. Chase, 

Dear Sir: I enclose a money order for two ($2.00) dollars, 
desiring to become a member of the Chase-Chace Family Association, 
and wish your object every success. I enclose my line from Aquila, 
the emigrant, son of Richard, and grandson of Thomas Chase of 
Hundrick, Chesham, Backs. 

Yours very sincerely, 

Agnes Blake Poor. 



From Hon. Emory A. Chase, Judge Supreme Court 
of New York. 



Catskill, N. Y., August 27, 1900. 

Omar P. Chase, Treasurer, 

Andover, Mass. 

Dear Sir: Enclosed you will find two ($2.00) dollars, member- 
ship fee in the Chase-Chace Family Association. 

I have been in communication with Rev. William A. Eardeley and 
have given and will give him so far as possible the descendants of 
Zephehiah Chase, of whom 1 am a descendant. I desire to be fur- 
nished with family line as stated, that 1 can compare with what I have. 

Will you be kind enough to let me know where you get the coat of 
arms on your letter paper. Very truly, 

Emory A. Chase. 



30 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

The reading of the letters was followed by a vocal solo by Miss 
Elizabeth Carr Adams of Newburyport. Although not connected with 
the Chase family, so far as known, she had kindly consented to assist 
in entertaining the gathering, and her selection was highly appreciated. 



The President and Secretary made verbal reports in regard to 
the business matters of the Association, which reports were accepted. 
A committee, previously appointed, to make nominations for officers for 
the coming year, reported the following list, which were duly elected : 

President — John C. Chase, Derry, N. H. 

Vice Presidents — George F. Chace, Taunton, Mass.; Charles E. 
Chase, Worcester, Mass.; Caleb Chase, Boston, Mass.; William M. 
Chase, Concord, N. H. ; Clinton S. Chase, Detroit, Mich. 

Secretary-Treasurer — Omar P. Chase, Andover, Mass. 

Executive Committee — Josiah G. Chase, Cambridge, Mass.; 
Thomas C. Thurlow, West Newbury, Mass. ; William E. Chase, New- 
bury, Mass. ; Harry G. Chase, Tufts College, Mass. 

Historians — Mrs. Mary L. C. Smith, Hartford, Conn.; Rev. 
William A. Eardeley, Brooklyn, N. Y. 



Alter another enjoyable solo by Mrs. [Catherine Knight Chase, 
the President announced that brief addresses would be in order, and 
expressed the hope that no one would hesitate to speak on account of 
not being called upon, as he was not able to call all present by name, 
and an excessive degree of modesty might deprive the meeting of 
entertaining and interesting remarks. 



Remarks by Rev. Rufus Emery of Newburyport. 

The book of heraldry says, that "He who has no desire to know 
what he has been has no knowledge of what he is going to be." And 
this seems to me to enclose a very great truth, one of vast influence 
and power. We are sometimes made fun of or laughed at, as one man 
said, "Genealogy is lit for fools." Of course there is a great deal of 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 51 

sarcasm expended on genealogical research and investigation, but 1 
have always thought that the more we look into the past, and the more 
we meditate upon the deeds of those brave men, the more we desire 
to imitate them. My ancestors wore no coronet nor crown ; their 
names were not enrolled on the annals of the College of London or 
elsewhere, but I believe them to have been brave men, and men of 
wisdom, which would offset all that. They dared to care for and to 
feed the Quakers whom others drove from city to city. I believe they 
were men of sterling purpose and great zeal and that they acted in 
truth. My ancestor, Aquila Chase, suffered somewhat when he picked 
his peas on Sunday. I certainly believe in the independence of the 
man; it was to his credit, and I reverence him for it, as I reverence 
my other ancestor because, when the minister of this town of Newbury 
came to remonstrate with them for harboring the Quakers, he put his 
head in at the door and said, " Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, 
for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." I cannot but 
hope that the descendants of the Chase family will strive to imitate 
their efforts and to cherish their memories. 



Remarks by T. C. Thurlow of West Newbury. 

We live on the place in West Newbury formerly occupied by 
Aquila Chase — whether the original Aquila or one of his sons, I am 
unable to say ; but, according to the record, 1 am of the seventh 
generation direct from Aquila Chase, and own the land where the 
original house stood. My mother was Susan Chase, and the reason 
my name is not Chase is because she was an only child. Many from 
our family formerly settled in New Hampshire and Maine, and in my 
grandfather's day they often came back to the old homestead to visit 
their "cousins." Since, many of their descendants have emigrated to 
New York, Ohio and further west. They were generally of a nervous 
temperament, muscular, and energetic to a remarkable degree, and 
have often retained these characteristics to the present time. 

1 very well remember the Chase gathering at Newburyport, when 
I was a small boy, — at the sudden news of "untold wealth" over in 
England, for the descendants of Aquila Chase. Joshua Coffin, Esq., 
the Old Newbury Historian, was i hosen a committee to go to England 
and secure this vast estate and have it divided among the rightful 
heirs; but as the "needful" for the journey was not supplied, Mr. 



32 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

Coffin did not go, which shows that the faith in securing this property 
was not any stronger then than now. 

Il is said that Aquila Chase first settled in Hampton, N. H., but 
as he understood navigation better than the early settlers of Newbury, 
he was offered a farm if he would come over here and make his home 
on this side of the river. History records it that he was the first white 
man who ever came over the Newburyport bar and went up the Merri- 
mack River in a boat. 

I have never during my travels been ashamed to admit of my 
Chase blood, notwithstanding the crime of our original ancestor in 
being lined for picking green peas on Sunday. 

We are glad to see so large an attendance at this Chase gathering 
to-day. 'There are many places of historic interest in this and the 
neighboring towns, and I would extend a cordial invitation to any and 
all to visit me at the old Chase farm in West Newbury, where the 
cellar of the original house can still be seen. 



Remarks by William E. Chase of Newbury. 

I have seen a great deal of our honored President recently, but he 
did not tell me that he wanted me to make a speech. I have made it 
the rule of my life, however, never to refuse to say a few words when 
called upon. I presume our President wanted some one to speak 
who had always lived in Newbury tor the nine generations. We have 
always lived here, and my son makes the tenth generation. I welcome 
all of you, who have deserted the old town of your ancestors, back to 
where you should have remained. Il you had all remained here, we 
should have had a town of our own and have had everything our own 
way, city government and all. I have always lived here and, though 
they have taken the heart of the old town and called it Newburyport, 
I have moved to Newbury, so 1 still live in Newbury. 

I have heard that story about Aquila Chase being the first white 

nun to <ross the Newburyport liar, that he was a good pilot and under- 

d a boat, and perhaps he was also a tanner. Perhaps he went to 

West Newbury, but 1 cannot believe that. 1 rather think he died in 

Newbury, and all my ancestors have lived there a part of their lives. 

1 am glad I haw nut the President and Secretary; I am glad 
that they cami me, and I hope 1 may be of some future service 

to them, living hen' in the old place. 1 thank you, Mr. President, for 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 33 

the honor of calling upon me, and welcome you all to Newburyport, 
and would like to have you all come to see me, as well as to see 
Mr. Thurlow of West Newbury, of whose invitation I shall avail myself 
sometime and see if I cannot find some trace of the old gentleman. 



Remarks by Rev. William A, Eardeley of Brooklyn, N. Y. 

I consider it a great privilege to be called upon to speak here. 
It is in our articles of incorporation that we are to publish the Chase 
family history. Where this story of the legacy first started I do not 
know. I do not think it was heard of back of 1825. There is an 
impression that it has been handed down from generation to gener- 
ation. 1 think it is absolutely absurd. I do not think it was heard of 
until some scheming lawyers came along and proposed it to the family. 
There have been a number of people in different places looking it up, 
but they say there is nothing in it. Whether there is anything in it I 
am not prepared to say. From the fact that it is so well known, it 
would almost seem that there is some foundation for it. I wish you 
would all think, if you believe in that estate, that your first duty is to 
have your family history published. It will be almost impossible to 
get the history of any branch complete, but you can do nothing with 
that legacy until we have the family history complete. 



Remarks by William Moody Chase of Dorchester, Mass. 

I have sent out a great number of cards to the members of the 
Chase family and they almost universally believe in this Chase legacy. 
Now the minister to London who has recently died spent a great deal 
of time in looking it up, and he said positively that there was nothing 
of the kind, nothing tangible to get hold of. He was bothered almost 
every day in the year with some correspondence about it, and he stated 
conclusively that there was nothing in it. I have been familiar with 
this Chase legacy for more than fifty years. I think Dr. Chace's 
family sent me the first notice of it, and I wrote back to him that I 
did not think there was much probability of there being anything there. 

I have been collecting the facts in regard to my branch of the 
family and am about to publish it, not for any material gain. This is 
the first time that I have met so many Chases in my life. I am very 



34 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

glad to meet the representatives of the family. I must say that 1 have 
never seen a better gathering for character and ability than those that 
represent our society. I am happy to see so respectable a number 
and such good looks. 



Remarks by Miss Alice Louise Chase, Medina, N. Y. 

I am a descendant of William Chase. We have our genealogy 
published, but I am not very well versed in the early history. 

I want to say that my grandmother Chase, when eighty-two years 
of age, received a prize for writing one of the memorial poems for the 
Garfield family. All of our family are Republicans except one brother, 
and while it is not a disgrace, still we wish he was a Republican too, 
instead of a Democrat. 

I am very glad to be here and to do what I can for the Associ- 
ation. 



Remarks by Miss Helen A. Whittier of Lowell, Mass. 

My cousin, Mr. D. B. Whittier, of Boston, now deceased, was 
very much interested in the "Chase estate," and devoted some time 
to the pursuit of information concerning it. His ardor, however, re- 
ceived a check when I was able to prove to him, by computing the 
shares that would be inherited by the several branches of the Chase 
family, that his portion of the Chase millions would be only thirty- 
seven and a half cents ! Later, in reply to a letter which he addressed 
to Minister Phelps, he received a printed circular prepared by the 
latter, stating conclusively that there was no such estate or inheritance 
that could be claimed by the Chase Family. 

I can add a word in regard to my great grandfather, Francis 
Chase, which may be of interest. He was the son of Samuel 3 and 
became one of the early settlers in Newton, N. H., then known as 
Amesbury Newtown. His wife was Sarah Pike, daughter of Hugh 
Pike and Hannah Kmerson. He had fourteen children, one of whom 
was my grandmother, Betsy Chase, who married Richard Whittier of 
Methuen. 

Francis Chase is said to have been the first man baptized in the 
Merrimack River, and for some time his house was used for the meet- 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 35 

ings of the Baptist society which he was instrumental in forming in 
Newton, and of which he was Deacon. 

A short time ago I had the pleasure of visiting the site of Francis 
Chase's homestead, now marked only by the cellar-hole and many old 
hand-made bricks, and I also discovered the family lot and handsome 
slate gravestones of Deacon Francis Chase and Sarah, his wife, also of 
some of their descendants, all of which are beautifully preserved and 
cared for by their lineal descendant, Stephen Chase, of Haverhill, who 
still owns the homestead lot. 

The line of my Chase ancestry is as follows : Aquila, 1 Moses, 2 
Samuel, 3 Francis, 4 Betsy, 5 Moses Whittier, 6 Helen A. Whittier. 7 



Remarks by Albert H. Lamson, Elkins, N. H. 

In conversation with an old lady whom I met in Scranton, Penn., 
she said : "You do not talk like a Pennsylvanian." I answered, "No, 
I am from New England." She asked me if I knew the Chases there, 
and I said, "Yes, my great grandmother was a Chase." Then she 
asked if 1 had ever heard of the Chase legacy in England, and I told 
her that 1 had. She then inquired how many there were in my family 
that I could think of, and 1 told her about fifty. She replied : "Then 
there will not be much left for my family." 



After all who desired had availed themselves of the opportunity to 
speak, the President made some announcements and the thanks of the 
Association were tendered the First Religious Society for the use of 
their Meeting House ; Miss Elizabeth Carr Adams, Mrs. Katherine 
Knight Chase and Miss Alice Louise Chase for the enjoyable and 
appreciated music rendered, and to all others who had contributed 
to the enjoyment and success of the occasion. The audience then 
joined in singing America, and the first reunion of the Association 
closed with the benediction by Rev. Mr. Emery. 



In the afternoon a party of nearly forty, personally conducted by 
the President, took the electrics for West Newbury and visited the site 
of Ensign Moses Chase's first settlement and his grave and those of 
other early Chases in the old Ferry Lane cemetery. 



36 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 




" Waking, I dream. Before my vacant eyes 
In long procession shadowy forms arise ; 
Far through the vista of the silent years 
I see a venturous band ; the pioneers, 
Who let the sunlight through the forest's gloom, 
Who bade the harvest wave, the garden bloom. 

"The seasons pass; the roses come and go ; 
Snows fall and melt ; the waters freeze and flow ; 
The boys are men ; the girls, grown tall and fair, 
Have found their mates ; a gravestone here and there 
Tells where their fathers lie ; 

"Art thou not with me, as I fondly trace 
The scanty records of thine honored race, 
Call up the forms that earlier years have known, 
And spell the legend of each slanted stone? 

"Could I but feel thy gracious presence near 
Amid the groves that once to thee were dear ! 
Could but my trembling lips with mortal speech 
Thy listening ear^for one brief moment reach ! 
How vain thejdream ! The pallid voyager's track 
No sign betrays; he sends no message back." 

— O. IV. Holmes. 








vtu^hzui i 4vuy 




Ihi /IfoemoriaitL 



HENRY MARTYN CHASE. 

The pioneers of 1849 were really few in number, and now, after 
fifty-one years, they are the "lone white peaks of our history" in this 
land of adventure, for one by one these brave men's names are enrolled 
among the silent majority, and we who are left can only tell of their 
courage and patience through repeated strokes of ill fortune and hard- 
ship. This time, last year, one was living who would have been fore- 
most in welcoming all who meet here today, and it is with a sense of 
great loss that we remember the friendship of our kinsman, Henry 
Martyn Chase, who passed from this life November 18, 1899. He 
was born in Philadelphia, March 25, 1831, and was the youngest son of 
William Frederic Chase and Anna Wiley, of Puritan stock on the 
father's side and Scotch Irish on the mother's. His father died in 
September of that year, and his mother married six years after, Joshua 
Coffin, of Newbury, who was at that time in the city of Philadelphia. 

He was descended from Aquila Chase, an early settler of New- 
buryport, and was a direct descendant of the famous Hannah Dustin 
of the Indian war of 1687, of whom you all know, and he was proud of 
the fact. 

In 1844 Mr. Coffin brought his family to the old homestead in 
Newbury, and the boy came soon after and attended school there for 
a year, when he entered a store in Nevvburyport and was also in Ames- 
bury for a time. In '48 he went to New Orleans by sea, and after that 
he went on a fishing cruise, as his love of the water and of travel was 
inborn. When scarcely sixteen he became so much interested in 
Fremont's account of the far west that he determined some day to find 
that favored land, and the opportunity came soon after the discovery of 
gold. 



38 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

On the eleventh of January, '49, he took passage in the Brig 
Forest, Captain Nicholas Varina, of Newburyport, and sailed from 
Boston to San Francisco, a boy not eighteen, full of enthusiasm and 
hope for the future. When off Cape Horn, in a terrific gale, the 
Captain and all of the crew but two sick sailors were washed overboard. 
Young Chase happened to be on deck, and the same traits which 
followed him all through his life were then manifest, for he at once 
aroused the sleeping passengers, and by throwing over ropes, life buoys 
and planks, the ship being hove to, they succeeded in bringing these 
men aboard, but one poor fellow was dead. 

After landing in San Francisco, with but a few cents, he went im- 
mediately to work, but in a few weeks was taken very ill, and was be- 
friended by a native of Newburyport, Captain Kilburn, who took him 
on his ship to Portland, Oregon, and thence to Astoria, from there to 
Oregon City, where he was a clerk in the Captain's store. Hut the 
disastrous floods of that year washed away the stores and he was left 
stranded, and he went to Portland, then a little village, hired a batteau 
and engaged in transporting freight and passengers from Portland to 
Oregon City, a distance of thirteen miles. The rates of freight were 
then $25.00 per ton, and passenger fares $5.00 ; as he afterwards said, 
"unvexed by legislative enactment and anti-monopoly measures." He 
continued in this business until the summer of 1850, when sickness 
compelled him to engage in mercantile business in Oregon City and 
also in Champoeg, in the latter place as factor for the famous Hudson 
Pay Company. This was not profitable, and he associated himself with 
Dr. William McKay and went east of the mountains on a trading expe- 
dition, going as far as the Nez Perce country. 

In 1853 he returned to the Dalles and was an agent for McKinley 
and Allen, a large trading firm. In '54 he was in business with William 
Craig in trading, and went with him to the Grande Ronde Valley to 
meet the coming emigration, and then took the stock bought there to 
the Lapwai country, where Mr. Craig lived. During the year 1854 he 
married Margaret Raboine, who died in 1873. Two children survive 
him — Henry Dustan and Anna. 

As he was favorably impressed with the climate and resources of 
this region in Walla Walla County, now known as Eastern Washington, 
he located on the Touchet River, where Dayton now stands, and en- 
gaged in stock raising, putting up large buildings with a force of men. 
In 1855 the Indian war broke out and this region was abandoned, but 
he staid until all had gone, not willing to leave his property ; but being 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 39 

warned by a friendly Indian that the hostile tribes were ready to attack 
him, he was forced to go, and on the next day they came, destroying 
everything and driving away his stock. 

In 1855-6 he raised a company of volunteers from the Colville 
miners and friendly Nez Perces. In '56 he was commissioned as 
Captain of Company M, Second Regiment of Volunteers, and did good 
service until the war was over. In August of that year his company 
was mustered out, and he then crossed the Bitter Root Mountains and 
located at Fort Owen, now in Montana. Here, in Major John Owen's 
service, he rebuilt the fort, a large adobe structure. He then concluded 
to go back to Eastern Washington to look up his claims. As he had a 
number of horses, the fruit of his labor in that region, he went with a 
party going to Salt Lake City, to trade his horses for cattle and take 
heavy teams there for Walla Walla. The trip was hazardous and 
lasted forty days. While there he was commissioned by Superin- 
tendent Davies of Utah to find two children who had been captured 
by the Indians, and this he accomplished in the face of many perils. 
After this, in company with three men whom he employed and a 
German family of four people, he left again for Walla Walla, making 
another dangerous trip of twenty-one clays. 

He found Walla Walla, when he returned again, a thriving village, 
but his land had been taken, and a law suit was unavoidable. While 
this was pending he located on tKe Yukannon and engaged in stock 
raising. His claim was unjustly decided against him, so he removed 
to Walla Walla. 

In 1862 he was elected to the Washington Territory Legislature 
and served over a year. He was in the Quartermaster's employ at 
Fort Walla Walla until '65, then went to the town with his family. In 
'68 he was elected Probate Judge, in '69 County Auditor ; was re- 
elected in '71, serving four years. In that time he served as City 
Clerk and City Treasurer, and was also on the Common Council. In 
'69, with others, he organized the Walla Walla and Columbia River 
Railroad. In 75 the road was built, the first in the territory, thirty 
miles long. He was connected with the road, from its organization, 
for many years in various capacities, but for a greater part as a Trustee 
and as Secretary and Treasurer. He was also connected with the 
Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. In 76 he was appointed 
by the Governor as a Commissioner from the Territory to the Cen- 
tennial Exposition in Philadelphia, and spent the summer in the East. 
In 78 he was appointed as Deputy County Treasurer. In 79 and 



40 THE CHASE-CHACF. FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

until '85 he was in active service for the W. W. & C. R. R. and the 
O. R. & N. Co. In the fall of '85 he again visited the East, and was 
occupied a part of the time in the interests of the Railroad Company 
and the western country, the land of his adoption. In '88 he sold his 
home in Walla Walla and came to Massachusetts to live, settling in 
Barnstable in '91. In '89 he was appointed by the Governor of the 
new state of Washington as one of the Commissioners to attend the 
one hundredth anniversary of George Washington's inaugural in New 
York, and was present at all the ceremonies. Whatever he engaged to 
do, at home or abroad, was always well done. 

He was a member of the Episcopal Church, and gave freely to its 
support in the West, and was one of its vestrymen for many years at 
St. Paul's in Walla Walla and was also senior warden at St. Mary's in 
Barnstable. He was always ready to listen and respond to calls for 
charity, and was one of the first to answer public demands. He was a 
real lover of art in all her phases, was devoted to literature, and very 
fond of reading aloud from his favorite books, which he did to per- 
fection. Within the past four years he collected a large amount of 
genealogical matter, but was not able to finish the work. 

1 lis manner was that of the old school and his hospitality genuine. 
His faults (for who has them not) were more the outcome of circum- 
stances than inborn, and to those who knew him truly, were dear. He 
bore with great fortitude and patience his manifold cares and per- 
plexities and clung to life until the last, feeling that he had left much 
undone. Upon the marble which marks his resting place in the 
beautiful Oak Hill cemetery, in Newburyport, are these words, and 
none could be more fitting : 

"To live in hearts we leave behind, 
Is not to die." 



+> 



Km 






/ue^'^^^-^j 



BENJAMIN CHASE. 



Benjamin Chase, the subject of this sketch, was born in that part 
of Chester, N. H., now known as Auburn, July 7, 1799, and entered 
into rest after a long, active and well spent life, May 5, 1689. He was 
the son of Benjamin Pike and Anna Blasdel Chase, his family line 
being Benjamin Pike, 1 ' Wells, 5 Moses, 4 Moses, :! Moses, 2 Aquila. 1 

The first twenty-six years of his life were spent on his father's farm. 
His education, as stated by himself, was limited to about eight weeks 
each winter, after the age of twelve, at the common school, kept "in a 
house fifteen by sixteen feet, rough boarded and ceiled, with three 
windows of nine panes each, a smoky chimney, and warmed by burn- 
ing green wood, which lay out in the snow until needed. The writing 
desks were planks or boards, one edge fastened to the wall of the 
house and the other supported by legs inserted in auger holes, and 
stools with legs for seats." Three terms previously, in the summers, at 
private schools taught by a woman, made up the sum of his school 
days. Before going to any school he had of his own volition, and 
practically unaided, mastered the common school arithmetic as far as 
the " Rule of Three," in the absence of a slate using a board and chalk. 
We quote further from his reminiscences : 

"The school district to which 1 belonged had in 1806, $25.00; 
in J8j0 7 $31.67; in 1815, $34.27, which was laid out in the winter, 
paying a male teacher ten or eleven dollars per month and board. 
Grammar was taught but little, geography not at all, except by using 
Morse's Abridgement as a reading book in the highest class. In early 
times the pupils had no arithmetics and the teacher set the sums on 
the slate and the pupils wrought them and carried them up for exami- 
nation. In 181b I borrowed from Stephen Chase, Esq., an English 
work on Geometry, Trigonometry and Surveying and went through 
that in the school-house, but without a teacher, just for the pleasure 
of it, and without the least idea of any practical advantage. I also 
studied navigation. In the summer of L816 my brother fohn and 
my father had a controversy on some point of astronomy, and to settle 



42 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

it, father went to Chester to the town library and got Ferguson's 
Astronomy, which contained rules for calculating new and full moons 
and eclipses. I thought that it would be a pleasant thing to know how 
to do it. From the tables certain elements are obtained and then a 
geometrical projection is made. As the book must be returned, I had 
to copy the tables, and now have them. I calculated the eclipses for 
several years and have several of the projections now. I had no other 
instruments than a two foot Gunter scale and a pair of brass dividers. 
If I wished to draw a circle I had to tie a pen to one leg of the 
dividers. These studies, pursued merely for the pleasure of them, 
have proved of great practical utility to me. In 1818, Stephen Chase 
who had done all of the land surveying for many years failed in health 
and I took it up and did much for several years, which prepared me 
to write and make the map for the History of Chester. These studies 
also prepared me to understand the science of the millwrights trade." 

Procuring the necessary tools, he finished the house which became 
his residence on his marriage and was his home to the end of his long 
life. He was married March 2, 1826, to Hannah, daughter of Moses 
Kimball and Lucretia Currier Hall, to whom were born two daughters 
and a son. She died suddenly February 25, 1876, while invitations 
were out for a golden wedding. 

Being a descendant on his mother's side of two generations of 
clock makers, he was a mechanic by inheritance. In 1825 he found 
temporary employment as a millwright, which led him into that line of 
business for the remainder of his most active life, making many im- 
provements on the sawmills and gristmills that were in use preceding 
his time. Though mathematical and philosophical in his tastes, his 
character was well rounded out by the development of moral and 
literary qualities. In his early manhood he heard a discourse on the 
subject of total abstinence from intoxicating liquors, and at once not 
only adopted that principle in his practice, but confined himself mainly 
to water as a beverage the remainder of his life. 

When the docrine of immediate emancipation of the slaves was 
proclaimed by William Lloyd Garrison it was embraced by Mr. Chase, 
as well as that of non-resistance and woman's rights, and he often con- 
tributed articles on those subjects to the " Liberator" and the "Herald 
Hi Freedom." 

In L864 he commenced the work of compiling the History of 
Chester, N. II., 1719-1869, with map of the original proprietor's lots, 
devoting to that work the time not occupied in his regular vocation. 



FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 43 

This was published as a volume of seven hundred pages in 1869 and is 
adjudged one of the best of the many town histories. 

When the story of the Chase fortune in England was proclaimed, 
about 1846, Mr. Chase, though giving no credence to the report, be- 
came interested to look up the genealogy of his ancestry and the 
different branches of the immigrant Aquila. This he made complete 
for his own line and collected much more for connecting lines, making 
very thorough search of real estate and probate records, and making 
maps of old Newbury, Cornish, N. H., and other places, and thus 
locating the residences of many of the earlier generations. Copies of 
these memoranda were furnished to Dr. John B. Chace of Taunton, 
Mass., now deceased, who was engaged in the same work for publi- 
cation, giving his attention not only to the genealogy of Aquila and his 
brother Thomas, but also to William, who was contemporary with but 
not certainly related to them. The tangible work of these men is now 
deposited with the New England Historic Genealogical Society in 
Boston, awaiting a master hand who shall complete for publication. 

Mr. Chase was a man of sturdy frame and great earnestness of 
purpose. One of the rules of his life was the scriptural injunction, 
"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." Another 
was, "I first endeavor to ascertain my duty and then do it." He knew 
no idle hours. Pushing his business in working hours, he devoted 
all others but those for sleep to intellectual and social enjoyment. 
Though doing a great amount of laborious work in his occupation as 
millwright, he so kept an even balance of physical and mental effort 
that his strength was well preserved and his mind clear until near the 
end, at two months less than ninety years. 




JOHN B. CHACE, M. D. 



John B. Chace, M. D., of Taunton, was born in Swansea, June 14, 
1816. His father was John Chace, who died while still a young man, 
leaving his only son to the care of his mother, Deborah n£e Macomber, 
who afterward married William Wilbur of Little Compton. During his 
early years he attended the district school of his native town. When 
about eleven years of age he was sent to the Friends' School in Provi- 
dence, R. I. There he spent the next five years, including most of the 
vacation seasons. Full of fun he was (to judge from reports of his 
school life still in existence), diligent and faithful in his school work. 
He was very fond of the higher mathematics, and in later life thoroughly 
enjoyed wrestling with hard problems until he conquered. In Taunton 
there lived a man by the name of Williams whose one aim in life was 
to solve mathematical problems which others had given up in despair. 
Dr. Chace and "Mathematical Williams" (the only name by which 
he was called), enjoyed interchanging such difficult problems as were 
brought to them by others. 

At the age of seventeen he began the study of medicine with 
Dr. Wilbur of hall River. He took his degree in 1838 at the Jefferson 
Medical College, Philadelphia. In the fall of the same year he began 
the practice of medicine in Somerset. There he married Rebecca, 
daughter of Eber and Sybil Chace who belonged to the Society <>i 
Friends. Three sons and a daughter died in infancy. Two sons and 
three daughters grew to manhood and womanhood, sons and daughters 
lor whose lives he thanked God upon his dying bed. 

In I sis, in company with others, he went to California as a 
physician. The voyage was made on the "old Hark Ann," by way of 
Cape I bun. He was away about two years. His stay in California 
was not without its hardships. In later years, when one of his children 
was fretting because the city water was not colder, he said to her: 
"Noii ought to be thankful for pure water. 1 remember a time in 
California when, in one of our journeys, we suffered so much from 



Hj 



•--* 










FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 15 

thirst that we were thankful to kneel down by a pool of stagnant water 
and brush away the green scum that we might get water to moisten our 
parched lips." 

From California he embarked as surgeon on an East Indian ship, 
and then lived a short time in Manila. While there an English phy- 
sician, Dr. Reed, presented him with an elegant and valuable lace 
handkerchief containing one hundred dollars in gold as an expression 
of appreciation for professional service rendered to his wife. 

On his return from the East Indies, in 1850, he lived in Somerset 
five years, and then in Westport two years, returning to Taunton in 
1857, where he remained until his death with the exception of a short 
time spent in the state of New York. 

"As a physician he was faithful and successful, but it was in surgery 
that he had especial pride. Here his clear judgment, perfect ana- 
tomical knowledge, and steady hand, combined to give him a high 
rank." Many a poor fellow owed the preservation of an arm or a leg 
to Dr. Chace. When others had said "It must come off," he would 
say, "Let us try first to save it," and save it he did if possible. He 
often remarked, " It is much easier for a surgeon to take off a badly 
injured limb than it is to save it ; but it is far better for the man to 
have his limb, even if he can make but little use of it." He despised 
shams and make-believe sickness, but he had long patience with real 
sickness. One day he said to a well woman who was always complain- 
ing, "Madam, what you need is to go home and go to work." Some 
months later she came to him and said : " Doctor, I was mad when 
you told me to 'go home and go to work,' but I did it and it cured 
me. You told the truth." At another time he was asked what en- 
abled him to cure so many people of chronic ailments. His reply was 
short and to the point — "Patience." 

He was a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society from 
1848 until his death, and of the North District Medical Society, and 
one of its board of censors. 

During our Civil War he was assistant examining surgeon for re- 
cruits and substitutes for eastern Massachusetts ; and for ten years 
previous to his death he served as Cnited States Examiner of Pensioners, 
his last illness compelling him to resign a few months before his death. 

He was a member of the Christian denomination to which he was 
strongly attached; and while there was a church of that name in 
Taunton, his house was always '•ministers' hotel." One of the minis- 
ters who was told on coming to Taunton that it was "necessary for him 



46 THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 

to go to the hotel as neither of the deacons could entertain him," re- 
plied, "You needn't think I shall go to a hotel while Brother Chace is 
in town," and he didn't. While in Westport he held pastoral charge 
of the small church at Brownell's Corners for some months, and in 
Somerset and other places he assisted smaller churches by occasionally 
preaching for them. 

In his family relations he was a true and faithful husband and 
father. He trained his children with especial care. Young physicians, 
troubled fathers and neighbors in their perplexities often sought his 
aid, glad to avail themselves of the wise counsel of a true friend. 

His genealogical researches, which continued while strength lasted, 
covered a period of more than thirty years. He thoroughly enjoyed 
the work, to which he devoted a large expenditure of time, money and 
faithful and persistent effort. He was greatly disappointed because he 
was unable to complete and publish the work. 

His last illness was one of intense and prolonged suffering, borne 
with patience and faith until the end, which came May 31, 1881. 
The funeral services were conducted by the Rev. J. Colver Wightman 
of the Baptist Church, assisted by Rev. Martyn Summerbell and 
another minister of his own denomination. 

By Helena P. Chace. 




FIRST REUNION, NEWBURYPORT, MASS. 



17 



ATTENDANCE REGISTER. 



Larkin E. Bennett 

Charles H. Brown 

John T. Brown 

Mrs. Olive S. Bunce 

Alice Durgin Chase 

Alice Louise Chase 

Mr. and Mrs. Andrew J. Chase 

Anna Louise Chase 

Benjamin Chase . 

Benjamin Hall Chase 

Carolyn Louise Chase 

Charlotte Fabens Chase 

Clinton S. Chase . 

Daniel E. Chase . 

Edward C. Chase 

Elizabeth Moon Chace 

Mrs. Fred W. Chase . 

George Frederic Chace 

Dr. and Mrs. George Thorndike C 

Mrs. Hannah Smith Chase 

Harriett Louise Chase . 

Mr. and Mrs. Harry Gray Chase 

Mrs. Harvey B. Chase . 

Herbert Appleton Chase 

Herbert Lincoln Chase 

Horace Chase 

Ida M. Chase 

James Albert Chase 

Jenny J. Chase 

J. Herbert Chase 

Mr. and Mrs. John C. Chase 

John M. Chase 

John Tilton Chase 

Joseph Titcomb Chase 

Joseph Titcomb Chase, Jr., 3d 

Joseph Warren Chase . 

Josiah G. Chase . 



hase 



Lowell, Mass. 

Newbirryport, Mass. 

Newburyport, Mass. 

Groveland, Mass. 

Derry, N. H. 

Medina, N. Y. 

Boston, Mass. 

Keene, N. H. 

Derry, N. H. 

Manchester, N. H. 

Derry, N. H. 

Salem, Mass. 

Detroit, Mich. 

Somerville, Mass. 

Chester, N. H. 

Valley Falls, R. I. 

Newburyport, Mass. 

Taunton, Mass. 

. New York, N. Y. 

Salisbury, Mass. 

Derry, N. H. 

West Newbury, Mass. 

Lowell, Mass. 

Haverhill, Mass. 

Chester, N. H. 

West Newbury, Mass. 

Newburyport, Mass. 

West Newbury, Mass. 

Nashua, N. H. 

Meriden, Conn. 

Derry, N. H. 

Newburyport, Mass. 

West Newbury, Mass. 

Huston. Mass. 

Boston, Mass. 

Chester, N. II. 

Cambrii Ige | » >rt . Mass. 



is 



THE CHASE-CHACE FAMILY ASSOCIATION. 



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Mrs. Katherine Knight Chase 

Moses 1 1. ( 'hase . 

Omar P. Chase 

Mrs. Otis Gray Chase . 

Sara Chase ' 

Sarah Alice Chase 

Mrs. Sarah L. Chase 

Mrs. Thurston S. Chase 

William E. Chase 

William Moody Chase . 

Mrs. Emily A. Clark . 

William J. Creasey 

Mrs. Lucy A. Danforth 

Mrs. Mary F. Dow 

Rev. William A. Fardeley 

Mrs. Ira A. Eastman 

Rev. Rufus Emery 

Mrs. Susie J. Fitz 

Elizabeth M. Gray 

Mrs. Sarah L. Gray 

Mrs. E. Ellen Hayward 

Mrs. Minnie Dow Janvrin 

Mrs. Franklin E. Johnson 

Mr. and Mrs. Albert Henry Lamso 

Mrs. Anna Cora Lewis . 

Mrs. Anna Maria Morse 

Mrs. Lucy Hale Ordway 

Mrs. Mary A. Ryan 

Ethyl Ryan . 

Melinda P. Rogers 

Avery Chase Smith 

George Brainard Smith 

Mrs. Mary L. C. Smith 

Mrs. Edward 15. Storer 

Dr. and Mrs. Andrew J. Stevens 

Mrs. Lucinda Levina Temple 

Edward Kimball Thurlow 

Thomas ( !hase Thurlow 

Mary Anna Toppan 

Helen A. Whittier 



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Haverhill, Mass. 
Newburyport, Mass. 
Andover, Mass. 
West Newbury, Mass. 
. Parkville, N. Y. 
South Byfield, Mass. 
Newburyport, Mass. 
Newburyport, Mass. 
Newbury, Mass. 
. Dorchester, Mass. 
Derry, N. H. 
Newburyport, Mass. 
Haverhill, Mass. 
Hampton Falls, N. H. 
. Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Andover, Mass. 
West Newbury, Mass. 
Salem, Mass. 
Nashua, N. H. 
Nashua, N. H. 
South Framingham, Mass. 
Hampton Falls, N. H. 
Lowell, Mass. 
Elkins, N. H. 
Newburyport, Mass. 
Keene, N. H. 
Newburyport, Mass. 
Newburyport, Mass. 
Newburyport, Mass. 
Byfield, Mass. 
Newburyport, Mass. 
Hartford, Conn. 
Hartford, Conn. 
Newburyport, Mass. 
Maiden, Mass. 
Manchester, N. H. 
West Newbury, Mass. 
W est Newbury, Mass. 
Newburyport, Mass. 
Lowell, Mass. 










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